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purist would say e36 m3, i would say 330ci for the updated interior/exterior.

my friends have e36 m3s, one in convertible automatic.. and they need alot of work done on their cars to stay tip top.

__________________

"I walk the streets at night with my head down. In this lil' town you see clowns that wanna be down.
So they get a glock and lick shots to get props and when the sh*t rocks all you can hear is the shells drop.
..And this happens everyday around my way, so I pray that I can live another day."

if you can find a 330i or 330ci e46 then deff b/c u get a-lot nicer car, but hardly doubt you will find one in that price range, so i would say go e36 m3 b/c frankly you get more power stock an lsd, and a pretty nice car... if you can find a decent one that hasnt had the living dailights beat out of it

You should be able to decide whether you like it enough to go for another E46, or try out an M3.

Im not thinking about buying one I just had an argument with a friend and he was saying E36 M3's are way better then any non M E46 and I disagreed because I have driven a couple E36's and it seemed to me that the ride and the build quality was alot worse, and I know Im gonna get flamed for this but I thought my sport package 323i handled better then the E36 M, but the M had thinner tires so that could have been why.

it depends on what you are looking for. E36 M is a much more "raw" car than an e46 non M... resale in the long run you will be safer with the M3, assuming mileage and condition are kept in tact. The e46 non M will depreciate far quicker. The M is about bottomed out in that price range...

Your question is too vague. The correct answer is it depends. If it were a car for myself, I'd say E36 M3 no question. If I were buying a car for the fiancee she would want the E46 for the updated styling, options,etc.